We are actively transitioning our family business from one generation to the next. There are two main components of that process: legal and emotional. At the end of the day, the emotional side is harder to work through than the paperwork.
Throughout this entire process, two key components are respect and communication. My siblings and I respect our father, and our father respects us.
My reasons why
I can’t tell you exactly why I wanted to be a manure hauler, and I have been asked that question many times over the years. The best response I have is that I like being outside, and my dad is my best friend.
Manure hauling is most definitely not a 9-to-5 job, and it required my dad to be gone a lot. Maybe at a young age I recognized the fact that if I wanted to spend time with him, I had to go to work with him. That wasn’t a problem for me. As a child, driving big pieces of equipment was fun, and I got paid to do it.
Yes, you read that right. This is a family business, but when my siblings and I went to work, we got paid. Our father’s philosophy was that the job had to be done, and he had to pay someone to be in that role. It didn’t matter if it was his child or someone else — that was the cost of doing the job. If our dad was making money, we made money, and like any other employee, we received a W-2 and paid taxes.
Bringing people in
We emphasize safety in our business. We do not just talk about it — we actually implement our standard operating procedures. As soon as we could vocalize that we wanted to work with Dad, he allowed my siblings and I to do age-appropriate tasks.
The first few years, the only appropriate task was being a passenger riding along in the equipment. As the years progressed, I began to earn job titles: pump operator at 8 years old; secretary and payroll manager at 12 years old; and tractor driver at 14 years old. I was eventually named vice president at the age of 18.
Along the way, my father delegated more tasks, and I consistently let him know I wanted to be part of the business. The communication was very clear that if I wanted to be involved in the business, I was welcome. It was my decision to come back, and I still have a option to stay or go. My father has made it clear that being here is a choice, not an obligation.
These are the steps my father used to plan for the return of children to the business. It involved a series of zones and potential responsibilities that are appropriate at various ages.
Zone 1 (Age 0 to 12): If the children are interested, give them age-appropriate tasks.
Zone 2 (Age 13 to 18): If the children are interested in the business, listen to them, but don’t force them to come back.
Zone 3 (Age 19 to 50): Give potential owners more responsibility, some decision-making authority, and try to make decisions by “committee.”
Put into practice
My brother is in his late 20s and I am in my early 30s, so we are in Zone 3. In almost all situations, my father does not make a decision without talking to us first. Most days, the three of us are in alignment and come up with the exact same solution. Of course, there are some days the three of us have three different plans, and it takes a bit of time to get on the same page. Those discussions can get loud, but we get our ideas out in the open, talk through our opinions, and arrive at a consensus. We are a family business after all, and we are moving our business forward.
This article contains content from my father’s succession speech that he presented to the North Dakota Manure Hauler’s Association. I’ll talk more about how our family is transitioning the business from one generation to the next in future articles.
If you want to go more in depth about what our family has done to aid in a smooth transition process, we will gladly talk to an individual or group wanting to learn more. Our contact information can be found on www.wdfarmsllc.com.
This article appeared in the November 2025 issue of Journal of Nutrient Management on page 25.
Not a subscriber? Click to get the print magazine.
